By MARK LEMKE in Luanda
“Lots of people have tried to tell me how my future is going to go. Some are positive, others are negative, but we are the authors of our own stories. Are you going to let someone else be your writer? My life is my story to write.”
These are the powerful words of Team SA swimmer, Abigail Kotze. She has had a successful time at the African Games, winning two individual gold medals, as well as playing a relay part in the squad’s haul.
“We moved around a lot when i was growing up. We were first in Paarl, where I swam with Jayden Williams (current squad-mate in Angola) and used to swim for Paarl Aquarius. During Covid-19 we relocated to Noordhoek and were stumbling around for swimming clubs. We found Vineyard Swimming Club and I was going into my first season with them at 11-years-old. I left, but there is no bad blood. I still have a great relationship with them.
“We relocated again to Durbanville during my final few months at Vineyard. That was difficult to get through. I had to travel an hour and a half to get there every morning. The travelling was one of the reasons I left, but the effects of the travel in other aspects of my life was worse.
“I wasn’t going to school. I attended online school to make the travel easier but I hated it. I am a very social person and I love being with my friends and speaking to people face-to-face. I eventually switched to Tygerberg Swimming Club in 2023 and began in-person school again.
“I had some health issues last year and my coaches at Tygerberg, Lucy Conradie and Corrie van Niekerk, were the perfect support system and I am so thankful to them. I have moved back towards Paarl and I’’m now at Lane Leader Swimming Club in Stellenbosch, and attend Rhenish Girls High School.”
Early mornings, isolated away from friends and a lack of enjoyment. Why would she put herself through such a thing?
“I grew up around netball, hockey, cricket, and rugby. I loved doing any and all sports. I never wanted to be home because if I was, it meant I was doing something. One of my friends used to swim which really intrigued me and I decided to give it a go.
“The switch flicked during Covid. When no one could train and I was stuck in the house, all I can remember thinking was, ‘I don’t like that I cannot swim’. I realised this is the sport I wanted to do and I went for it.
“After I finally found what I believed was my thing, my progress stunted. 2023 was the first year that I could make teams and I made two out of three that I aimed for which was great, but last year, I did not make a single team. The fact is I was not good enough. My performances were nowhere near the cut. That was really hard. It made me completely second guess if I was dedicating myself to the right thing. Everyone second guesses themselves, but it crept out of the shadows for me at my most vulnerable moments.
“There were definitely times where I did not want to carry on anymore. I had set these thresholds constantly whereby if I did not meet my goal, I would quit swimming.
“At the beginning of this year, I made a decision that if I did not make the team for Junior Worlds, then there would be no point in carrying on. I did not make the team, but in that moment something came over me and all I thought was, ‘what do I change to get better and achieve my goals?’ I could not quit this sport and I am determined to be the best swimmer I can be because this is what I am meant to do.”
The 16-year-old has made a statement in the water here in Luanda as well.
“My coaches, Karin Hugo and Keith Jansen, have been incredible for me. Karen has experienced it all, coaching at Olympics and Commonwealth Games, and she knows exactly how to motivate me. I love being told I can’t do something because it makes me push harder and faster. I love being told I can’t, because I can and I do. Coach Keith currently coaches Paralympic star Christian Sadie and he has been really amazing for my mid-distance which has never been as strong as my sprints. We have all worked really hard together to get to this point.
“I have plans in place for my next few steps. The first would be the junior and the senior Nationals in the first half of next year. What follows is dependent on those performances.
“What I hope the moral of my story is from now until the end is that there will always be doubts and difficult moments. Everyone goes through times where they feel like the cannot do something. People will doubt you and people will praise you, drown them out. Drown out the rest of the world and those who doubt you. You can do whatever you want as long as you work hard for it.
“Make those negative thoughts and comments look silly. You are capable of anything you set your mind to. Write your own story.”
Photo: Frennie Shivambu
